2013 Billecart-Salmon Cuvee Louis Salmon Blanc de Blancs Vintage Champagne

This cuvée was named in tribute to Louis, Elisabeth Salmon’s brother, who was passionate about oenology and highly involved in the creation of the House. A 100% Chardonnay sourced entirely from Grand Cru vineyards aged on lees/in the cellar for 114 months.

A mind blowing Champagne of incredible richness, depth and power.

A buoyant mousse shows good hold, gradually subsiding into a pale straw, pale gold tinged base that features an exceptionally fine and persistent bead. The nose alone is quite simply glorious with rich baked bread, yeast lees and brioche scents engulfing the olfactory senses. Lending further sophistication are citrus, cashew, oily toast and chalky oyster shell like notes. Rich and mouth filling, flavours of baked bread, citrus, yeast lees and oily toast like characters are creamy textured and full yet simultaneously airy in their flow across the palate. Roasted almond, pear, subtle ginger and oyster shell accents linger across the back half. Expansive, powerful and voluminous it possesses crisp acidity and a prodigiously long, chalk tinged finish that’ s completely riveting. Phenomenal!
Drink over the next 8-10 years.
Alc. 12.5%

Other Reviews...
The 2013 Brut Blancs de Blancs Louis Salmon is a powerful, dense Champagne that captures all the intensity of this late-ripening year. Apricot, peach, tangerine oil, mint and tropical inflections fill out the layers. Dense and very young, the 2013 is built for the cellar. It’s a seriously impressive wine from Billecart-Salmon. The blend is 44% Cramant, 26% Chouilly, 25% Le Mesnil and 5% Oiry, done entirely in tank with full malolactic fermentation. Drink 2026-2036.
97 points
Antonio Galloni – Vinous

A restrained wine with aromas of lemons, chalk, lemon leaves and minerals. An elegant and Intense palate with bright flavors of green apples, citrus and toast. Fine pinprick bubbles. It’s zesty and long with white chocolate notes. Disgorged January 2024. Drink or hold.
97 points
JamesSuckling.com

The 2013 Champagne Blanc de Blancs Louis Salmon is a stunning wine produced from the villages of Cramant, Chouilly, Mesnil-sur-Oger, and Oiry, and was raised in stainless steel. Displaying a golden yellow hue, it is incredibly expressive, offering elegance and depth, with notes of preserved lemon, poppy seed cake, custard, poached apple, pineapples, and salty earth. Long and full on the palate, it’s quite complete and has verticality that drives the wine. A very interesting and compelling wine, it stands out in the range for its energy and completeness. Disgorged in Jan 2024, with 4 grams per liter dosage and 4.5 total residual sugar. Drink 2026-2047.
96+ points
Audrey Frick - JebDunnuck.com

The reference point of Billecart-Salmon’s contemporary direction, the 2013 Blanc de Blancs Louis Salmon, disgorged in January 2024 with four grams per liter dosage, stands as the most characterful wine of the new lineup, expressing itself from the glass with aromas of early-blooming white flowers, lemon oil, nashi pear and almond paste mingled with cardamom, oyster shell and freshly baked bread. On the palate, it is medium- to full-bodied and elegantly muscular, with a tensile core of crystalline purity, racy acids and ample chalky extract. Harvested in October, it derives from the communes of Cramant, Chouilly, Le Mesnil-sur-Oger and Oiry and was vinified entirely in stainless steel with full malolactic fermentation in pursuit of greater harmony in a cool-profile vintage such as this. It is slightly more elegant and simultaneously less powerful than the 2012 rendition, yet it remains equally compelling. Stylistically, it shares certain affinities with the 2008 and 1996 vintages, albeit with more fully realized ripeness. Drink 2027-2046.
96+ points
Kristaps Karklins – Robert Parker’s The Wine Advocate